FIFA Announces Cash Bonanza For EVERY Team Competing In World Cup

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Amid widespread complaints about the cost of tickets and transportation related to World Cup games, FIFA announced Tuesday that it will hike the money received by all 48 teams participating this summer by 15%.

The national teams competing in the event in the United States, Mexico and Canada will see their preparation money rise from $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

Qualification compensation goes from $9 million to $10 million, and contributions toward team delegation expenses and increased ticket allotments will go up more than $16 million.

Remaining additional income that FIFA receives will be split among all 211 national federations.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement, "FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our Member Associations in an unprecedented way. This is one more example of how FIFA's resources are reinvested back into the game."

The financial boosts were among the items to come out of a FIFA Council meeting ahead of the FIFA Congress scheduled for Thursday in Vancouver.

Among the other matters announced by FIFA:

--At this year's World Cup, players who exit the pitch in a dispute over a decision by a referee could be given a red card. Also, players who cover their mouths "in a confrontational situation with an opponent" could be subjected to a red card.

The latter item appears to be a direct consequence of an incident in a UEFA Champions League game in February, where Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior stated that Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni made a racist statement to him. The situation was difficult to judge because Prestianni pulled his shirt over his mouth before saying something, and he later denied that he said anything racist.